This invention relates to an outdoor furniture construction employing a plurality of straps to form at least one of a seat and a backrest and to a method of fabricating the outdoor furniture construction.
As is known, outdoor furniture such as chairs, lounges, foot rests, and the like have been constructed of metal frames and wood frames across which strapping has been secured in order to form a seat, a back rest and/or a foot rest. In some cases, strips of woven materials have been disposed across a frame and secured at opposite ends to the frame by means of fasteners, such as rivets. In other cases, such as for a collapsible Director""s chair, a rectangular piece of material has been provided with loops on two sides with dowels slid into the loops and the assembled unit is slid longitudinally into grooves located at suitable points in the collapsible chair. In these cases, the assembled unit is slid into the chair prior to opening of the chair into a usable position. In still other cases, strips of material have been secured in place or have been secured within grooves on each side of a frame by being slid into the grooves longitudinally from one end of the groove.
Generally, the techniques which have been employed to secure a strap or strip to a frame for outdoor furniture have been time consuming or require additional parts, such as fasteners, in order to secure the straps or strips in place. Further, in the event that a strap becomes damaged or broken during use, it has generally been cumbersome for a user to replace the strap. For example, in the cases where the straps have been slid into grooves in the sides of the frame and particularly where the straps are of different colors in order to create a visual effect, it has been necessary to remove all of the straps up to the broken strap from one end of the frame in order to be able to slide a replacement strap into place.
According, it is an object of the invention to be able to fabricate an outdoor frame with straps in a simple manner.
It is another object of the invention to be able to replace broken or damaged straps in an outdoor furniture frame in a relatively simple unencumbered manner.
It is another object of the invention to be able to mount straps for an outdoor furniture in an easy manner without the need for fasteners.
Briefly, the invention is directed to an outdoor furniture construction which is to be provided with transverse straps. Typically, the construction may be used for a chair, a chaise lounge, foot rest or the like.
In accordance with the invention, the construction includes a pair of fixedly mounted rails, each of which includes a longitudinally disposed slot defining a lip and a plurality of plastic straps which are secured to and across the rails in stretched relation, i.e. in tensioned manner. Each strap has an enlarged end which is disposed in a slot of a respective rail and engages with the lip of the rail.
Each plastic strap of the invention is constructed in a unique manner. That is to say, the plastic strap has an extruded length of uniform thickness and a pair of ends, each of which is folded over and bonded to the remainder of the strap to form a free end or edge. When the enlarged end of the strap is placed within a slot of the rail, the end or edge of the strap engages against the lip defined in the rail and prevents pulling out of the strap from the rail.
When employed in a chair, the two rails may be fixed to a frame contoured to form a seat and/or a backrest and secured, in turn, to and between a pair of leg supports. The stretched straps may thus form the seat or backrest or both. A chaise or footrest may be constructed in similar manner.
The invention also provides a unique method of fabricating outdoor furniture which comprises an initial step of securing a pair of rails in a fixed manner, for example, between a pair of fixed leg supports, with each rail having a longitudinal slot defining a lip. Thereafter, each plastic strap with enlarged ends of a plurality of straps is heated to a degree sufficient to allow manual stretching of the strap. One end of the heated strap is then anchored in the slot of one of the rails and the strap is then stretched in order to insert the second end of the strap into the slot of the opposed rail. The free ends of the strap thus engage against the lips of the respective slots while the strap is stretched between the rails. As the strap cools, the strap shrinks slightly thereby increasing the preload in the strap.
In accordance with the invention, the plastic strap is heated to a temperature of 180xc2x0 F. to 200xc2x0 F., for example by being immersed in a trough or tank of hot water. Typically, each strap may be manually handled since the time required for inserting each end of the strap into the rails is less than a few seconds.
Any suitable plastic may be used for making the extruded strap. The preferred materials are extrudable thermoplastic materials and in particular, polyvinylchloride.
In the event that a strap of a chair, chaise, foot rest or the like becomes damaged and requires replacement, a user, using simple tools, may easily replace the damaged strap. First, a scissors or the like is used to cut the damaged strap. The resulting two pieces of the strap may then be readily removed from the rails. A fresh strap may then be dropped into a bucket of hot water so as to become soft and pliable and capable of being stretched under a manual pulling force. One end of the heated strap is then inserted into the slot of one rail. The remainder of the strap is then stretched and the second end is placed in the slot of the opposite rail so that the edges of the two ends abut the lips at each slot.
The construction of the strap is such that continuous lengths of strap material may be extruded from an extruder and sequentially cut into desired lengths. Thereafter, the ends of each strap are folded over and bonded by heat to the remainder of the strap. A plurality of thus formed straps may then be incorporated into an outdoor furniture construction to complete the formation of a chair, chaise, foot rest or the like.
Note is to be made that the leg supports and frame of the furniture construction are fixedly secured to each other and are not movable relative to each other. That is to say, the construction is not collapsible.